This hearty, delicious, healthy vegan chickpea quinoa burger is hefty enough to stand up to the summer grill. Dress it up with a dollop of guacamole and salsa and serve it on a vegan whole wheat burger bun.
Table of Contents
This hearty vegan chickpea quinoa burger has a smoky, southwestern flair thanks to cumin, chili powder and oregano. It comes together in minutes if you use canned chickpeas, and every patty has six grams of heart healthy protein and five grams of dietary fiber. How's that for healthy and delicious?
The recipe is very pantry-friendly. I like adding a little chickpea flour to the patties to help them bind beautifully, and the quinoa adds lots of texture. There's spinach in this recipe to make it even yummier, and you can use either fresh or frozen spinach, whatever you have on hand.
This has quickly become one of my favorite veggie burgers, partly because it's so easy to make. It holds together nicely on an outdoor grill, just like my black bean burger and quinoa bean burger, and it tastes so, so good. The burger patty is soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free.
Here are a few tips to make these burgers quite foolproof:
- Season the quinoa when you cook it to amp up the flavor. I toss in oregano, salt and ground black pepper.
- For the best texture for the chickpeas, pulse them in the food processor 5-6 times. There should be some larger pieces but no whole chickpeas left.
- Make sure there is absolutely no moisture left in the spinach when you add it to the chickpea burger mixture.
To keep the healthy and southwestern theme going, I cradle these chickpea quinoa burger patties in my homemade whole wheat burger buns and pile them with guacamole and salsa. You can also serve these with more traditional toppings like vegan mayonnaise and coleslaw (try this yummy beet carrot slaw for a change!). Or make a double batch of the sauteed spinach and reserve half to top the burger bun with!
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Recipe card
Chickpea Quinoa Burger
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
- 6 cloves garlic (minced)
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 6 oz spinach (frozen spinach works as well)
- 2 cups chickpeas (cooked or canned, drained)
- ¾ cup cooked quinoa
- 3 tablespoons chickpea flour (finely milled chickpea flour like besan works best for this)
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Add olive oil to a pan and saute the garlic and red pepper flakes for a few seconds until the garlic turns lightly blonde.
- Add spinach and salt to taste, mix, and let it cook until it wilts down. Continue to cook a few more minutes until all visible moisture evaporates.
- Place the spinach in a bowl with mashed chickpeas and cooked quinoa.
- Add the seasonings--chili powder, ground cumin and oregano-- along with the chickpea flour. Mix until everything comes together. Add salt to taste.
- Divide the mixture into eight portions and form each into a round patty. Heat a skillet or grill pan or the grill. Brush a bit of oil on it and wait until very hot before you carefully place the patties on it.
- Grill the patties until char marks appear. For a cross-hatch pattern, rotate each patty at a 90-degree angle after a couple of minutes. Flip and cook the other side before serving.
Notes
- Refrigerate: Refrigerate the cooked patties for up to three days.
- Freeze: Flash-freeze the burger patties before stacking them in a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to three months.
- Reheat: Reheat frozen patties on the grill or in a griddle.
Nutrition Information
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Nancy
These were great!!
I didn't have chickpea flour so I substituted potato starch and it worked just fine.
These have become a staple in our house. I would imagine they would go well with tzatziki sauce .
in2insight
Love how wholesome these are and the flavors were wonderful.
Found the mixture to be rather dry and while was able to create patties from it, the were very crumbly and did not hold together well during and after cooking.
(I should have just added some water... hindsight...)
Thank you for sharing.
Vaishali
Hi, next time try blending or mashing the chickpeas more and also adding a bit more chickpea flour!
John Kaplan, MD
The recipient for Chickpea burgers recommends to "flash freeze" patties before stacking and wrapping for the freezer. What is flash freezing please Dr John
Vaishali
Hi, place the patties in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for a couple of hours. Then stack them in the freezer safe bag or container. It's not absolutely essential but it is a good idea because it will keep them from sticking to each other.
S
Hello, can this be baked instead ? How high Fahrenheit ? How long? Cheers?
S
Vaishali
Hi, bake in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 10 minutes on each side.
Kristina
How many calories per serving?
Vaishali
Added!
Anonymous
Can I use fresh spinach
Vaishali
Yes!
Nichole
Can these be frozen, and if so, before or after cooking?
Vaishali
After cooking! Heat on a griddle before serving.
Vaishali
Mike, you need to process the ingredients enough that they hold together. If you can't mash it to a fine enough consistency, use a food processor. That should help them hold together.
Rachel
These are delicious! I'm a long time vegetarian but not the biggest fan of veggie burgers/patties. I could eat these regularly, though. Thank you!
Anonymous
I tried these and they are great. I used basil Mayo as a topping.
Vaishali
Awesome, so happy to hear!
Kim
These were yummy. Curious why the recipe calls for an entire pkg of spinach but only uses half.
Rachael Russon
The other half is used at the very bottom to dress the bun
Anonymous
The rest is for garnish.
Olivia
How much quinoa would I need if it's cooked already?:)
Anu-My Ginger Garlic Kitchen
First time on your blog! This CHICKPEA QUINOA BURGER looks absolutely YUMMY and delish! Loved those gorgeous clicks too! 🙂
Vaishali Honawar
Welcome, Anu, and thanks for your kind words. 🙂
Miss Messy
these look heavenly! I love a good veggie burger and these are right up my street.
Mario Leto
Strange how so many comments on recipes are by people who haven't tried the recipes yet.
Anyway, I made these today. They were fabulous. They were rather soft, but what veggie burger isn't? I substituted flax meal for the chickpea flour because it was at hand, and I doubled the spinach in the burgers because spinach rocks and I wanted a bit more moisture to form the burgers. Thanks for the good eats. I'm always looking for new ways to mash together nutritious foods for a ride on a bun with fresh veggies and condiments.
Vaishali Honawar
Hi Mario, so thrilled you tried them, and thanks for letting me know. Great idea to add flaxmeal and more spinach-- the healthier the better. 🙂
narf77
These looks simply amazing Vaishali. It's hot, humid and oppressive here at the moment and cooking is something that I just don't want to do but these burgers could be cooked up on the bbq outside and look really scrumptious. Thank you for your creative and most wonderful recipes 🙂
Vaishali Honawar
Hi Narf77, I am a little envious of the heat right now. 🙂 And yes, these would be great on the bbq. Hope you try, and thanks for your kind words!